I just got my own 55mm f1.2. I am an artistic photography before anything else. And this lens blew the competition away. I put it on a helicoid on my mirrorless and was able to get even closer on a few shots. The morning sunrise provided all of the light I needed. This lens, after a single day, is now my favorite in this focal ranges. Amazing.
Hands down the most captivating, informative, thorough and definitely the most compelling comparison of any photography related kit I’ve ever experienced.
I just bought the 55 lens with little research. it's the most money I've spent on a camera or a lens (i've only had cameras I found or gotten for real cheap... $25 for an OM1 I have been using recently)... and I got a good price for it. with that said. I am so delighted by your video. this truly feels aligned for me. thank you so much!! love your narrative
@@zenography7923 Back from ebay: holy guacamole those rowdy lenses are expensive.... I think I will save my money on these and look at some less rambunctious alternatives.
Can't thank you enough for your videos brother. Your sense of style is phenomenal. I managed to snag a few of the other vintage lenses you've made videos about before, and my God what a joy they have been. I use my FD series for corporate shoots, but some of the Boca beasts and blurry boys have paid for themselves five times over in narrative work. You sir, are a gem.
i am looking around for another Olympus f1.2 as mine has something weird growing on the inside. I am unclear on how to remove and clean the rear lens block.
I thought I was done with fast legacy 50’s then I see your at it again and making me lust after what I don’t have....Man I love your style and imagination. Your a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for what you’re doing
Thank you, this is the best info on these lenses anywhere, your passionate poetry was very enjoyable. Imagewise I responded strongly to the 50/1.2, not the 55, and ordered one as they get rarer and rarer.
Here it is. The Rock band metaphors. It is important to mention that a busy background is partly a function of the background itself. Then there is the distance between the subject and the camera, and the background. You have a massive amount of control over these things. My Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 wide open is dead-nuts-on sharp for a few millimeters in there. The trick it finding those few millimeters. Use a high sensor speed and a fast shutter speed because those few millimeters are a fleeting event. Jim
I'm going to need a whole day of watching your videos. It's March 2023 now and I've only just come across this one. I've been a subscriber for some time, but clearly not long enough. Great review. I have the Nikon 55mm F1.2 on an F2AS (which I'm sure has similar qualities) but haven't used it yet due to health issues. Now I'm even more keen to try out the 'madness' of F1.2 . . . . ;)
I now have my second Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 and it is NOT radioactive. The first one is! Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 1974 SN 117492 Radioactive 3389 CPM Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 1974 SN 135479 NOT or (lightly, maybe Lanthanum?) Radioactive When was the change over out of radioactive lenses for Olympus on this lens? In the 1970s, many optical manufacturers changed the ingredients to "lanthanum'' because the `` browning phenomenon '' that occurs in optical glass materials due to chemical reactions over time, causing them to turn yellow, (When using Thorium). I would like to know where in the serial numbers did this happen?
let me tell you that you make videos that give so much inspiration, the way that you compare lenses with musicians was so excellent, and how you discribe them like your talking to them.
I just asked if you had done a video these after watching your 100mm f/2 video and seeing these two at the end. Of course, ... you have!! These are really very enjoyable videos. I love old Olympus lenses.
how did i miss this vid, genius. didn;t even know they existed, i purchased the zuiko 1.4 50mm after watching you speak about it and its my fave lens to date. these look even more awesome.
Wonderful video and great narration. First time I see someone sees the lenses as students in a classroom and what a great way to explain the non perfect but peculiar behaviour of a lens wide open
Thank you for this review! Done with heart and artistic expertise! If I miss something, it is a couple of portraits, which many of us would buy such lens for.. In all other ways the review is informative and nicely done! Thanks!
Wonderful use of metaphor to convey the spirit of these lenses. I'll have to wait on acquiring one for a bit... I've already overspent my budget on half a dozen vintage lenses over the past three months: Zuiko 24mm f/2.8, Zuiko 28mm f/3.5, Takumar 35mm f/2, Takumar 55mm f/1.8, Takumar 135mm f/3.5... and awaiting delivery of my most recent purchase, Zeiss Sonnar 180mm f/2.8. Fun, with beautiful results on my Canon EOS 6D.
Before we all went digital I bought into the Olympus range, because they were so compact and fitted the size of my hands. I have a couple of OM10s with manual adaptors which I inherited from Pops, an OM30, an OM2SP and an OM4Ti with a collection of some stunningly beautiful Zuiko lenses. I have a 50mm f1.4 but now I feel I need to get a 55mm f1.2. I changed to Canon when things went digital in the 00s and I bought an entry level 400D. I'm looking to upgrade and while I have some nice Canon / Sigma /Tamron adaptall lenses that may with adaptors fit an M50, I would like to vlog about my synths. But, I'm equally keen on traditional stills as vlogging. I'm not prepared to junk my Olympus range but I'm not sure Olympus offer a route into vlogging in their digital range with their old manual focus gear? I feel that I'm going to end up with Canon bodies and OM lenses., unless you can advise. I must point out that while you mention the Gallagher brothers they are always rumped here by Blur. Just a great video Zenography as always.
Olympus cameras aren't great for vlogging as they don't, as far as I know, have fully articulating screens. In any case, their cameras of recent years haven't focused on video as much as stills; I tried an ep-5 a while back and its video wasn't great at all. There are lots of options out there, from action cameras permanently mounted on gimbals to the many mirrorless choices. However, for this kind of work I've found the Panasonic GH series to be some of the best - all from the GH2 onwards shoot very nice video, they're widely used by vloggers and youtubers and they're often used by professionals too. I make all my videos with a GH2 - it's getting a bit long in the tooth now but still does what I need it to do, although as time passes I'll probably get a later GH model, with IBIS. Hope that helps!
@@zenography7923 thank you for your advice it is very much appreciated. I'd been looking at Sonys and Canons but recently I've seen very good reviews of Panasonic gear which back up what you say. I shall be researching the GHs and thank you again for taking the time to reply. Keep up the great work Z.
Wonderful review. So glad to hear your thoughts on these lenses. I love the 50mm 1.2 and have been waiting anxiously to see what you thought of it. I like the 50mm so much that I really haven't yet had the desire to use the 1.4. But, now you have me wanting to try the 55mm 1.2!
Hello dear Master Zenographer! As you have put me on the path of buying far too many vintage lenses since I found your cool channel a couple of months ago, I hope that you can help me with your judgement on the OM zuiko 24mm 2.0?
I like the reference to Gordon Gecko in "Wall Street", it really works. Sharpness is very over rated, for reproduction, some landscape; sure but you can often never see the difference between many lenses unless you do 2 to 4 times enlargement and really pixel peep. Once I thought absolute MTF is what makes that 3D pop, but not even that is true. I just shake my head when I hear pro photographers on TH-cam describe they take their 40-50 mpixel camera, pair it with a £2000+ lens and do portraits!? Then they say they spend between one to two hours in post (!) to remove blemishes and soften the skin! I'd give them a good old Sonnar type design normal to short tele lens in the f/1.2 to f/2 region, tell them to shoot wide open; job done! I've tried so many lenses of different brands and beside a few lemons you can take decent sharp photos if you want, but the bokeh; there is the difference between a big brand and many third party manufacturers. There is no optical formula for calculating bokeh as there is for apochromatic convergence or coma. It is all about experience.
Absolutely, I think optical imperfections can lead to some really interesting images, besides, the notion of perfection is a slippery one - who decides what's perfect anyway?
What lenses can you advice to get great quality vintage pictures with great color/skin rendering, best 3d popping and warm flares.I can go 1000$ and less (video shooting). Right now got Voigtlander 28 2.8 color skopalex, thinking about Voigtlander Ultron 50 1.8, Pancolar 80 1.8. But dream is set of lenses that will match in post (colors, plastics). Im actually on mft ;) Speedboosted! Thank you.
Thank you. You gave me the right decision which to go for. I have OM-3Ti and many lenses in the F/2.0 line up and the 50/1.4. I also have many Nikon F bodies, and a real wacky 55/1.2 pre-ai, and Metabones Speedboost for Nikkor and OM to m43. Then I got an offer on a Nikkor 50mm F/1.2 AIS. I didn't like how it performed in reviews, and then I had to see yours reviews. Since I already have the solid performer in the F/1.4, I have to go for the most wacky of them, and it's the 55/1.2. I like your lens reviews.
@@zenography7923 As far as I know, there is to of them in Norway. Mine is the only one sold here, and I'm the second owner. So it's pretty rare, they say something between 80 and 120 where made. It's made of carbon and titanium and made to last to the next iceage. That's the camera many has heard of, but few has seen one. There is one for sale now, but I got mine for much better price including everything for LF photo. I think the price back then was in todays money about $20K. It's made to be the best field and studio camera. It can do it all, but a little bit heavy to be the best field camera.
Once again, an extremely interesting and well done video. I'll trying out a 55mm f1.2 Vivitar Lens on a classic Pentax SP 1000 SLR. We'll see how it compares to the shots you shared in the video. Keep up the GREAT work!
What camera did you use? Or more telling, what crop factor? In a previous video (comments) you said you would start telling us. A simple _"these were all taken with a 2:1 crop factor Olympus X camera"_ at the start of the video would suffise nicely. It would help those looking to buy greatly to know what to expect. Good video other than not knowing the crop.
Hi Zenography, nice and wonderful review, thank you! I have the 1.4 version. Wonderful lens! Is there much difference to both of them when stopped down to 2.0? Cheers, Ralf
I love your videos, they're a dream to watch and listen. BBC should scout you for narration... I have the chance to purchase a 55mm f1.2 at the moment for a decent price including an adaptor for my fuji X digital camera and just can't decide.
Glad you're enjoying the videos, and thanks for your kind remarks! I'd say if you can afford it, buy the 1.2! It's a load of fun, and if you don't like it, you can always sell it on...
Hi hope yr well. I just came across this 55 mm. 1.2. I was tempted to buy its the second one in 50 years but I have just bought the Takumar 55mm f2 n I like the artist character it give what’s your view on it should I buy it. The thing is it gets very tempting after a while , initially I wanted to get the 56mm fujifilm which is auto n for weddings ect the Olympus will be a bit slow although with focus peaking donuts a tough choice what would you do buy it or pass ?
I think the 55 1.2 is best considered as an art lens - it's very, very soft at 1.2 and doesn't sharpen up until f2.8 - but at that point it becomes a stellar lens, quite astonishing! It's not a lens to shoot wide open though, unless you want the very soft look! I'd stick with the Tak 55 f2 - a very nice lens indeed, much nicer than many other vintage lenses I can think of!
@@zenography7923 thanks and happy new year I am Just after a 35mm to to make it into a52mm. For my Fuji I told to look at the T artisan 35mm what’s yr recommendations
Both work nicely for portraits. The 55 will render more softly wide open, a useful trait in a portrait lens, but not always suited to every shot. The 50 is quite a bit sharper - which is better depends on the look you want to achieve.
Nice video as usual but would say only one thing.Buy these lenses if you about to shoot film,since non of the vintage lenses are made to work with modern digital sensor.The wider in mm you go and in aperture the more worst performance will be in order to get decent performance.Why film? Because lens is optimized for thin peace of film and not to the digital sensor cover glass refractive index.Think if you don't care about smeared corners and mid frame section (portrets) go ahead and buy if you can get cheap.I would not recommend using expensive Leica glass on Canon,Sony,Nikon, Fujifilm or m4/3 since the glass and Leica camera is matched to each other to get quality image.
@@zenography7923 There is always issue with rangefinder lenses especially Leica, wider you go more issues you have with corners.This is also the reason why Leica digital sensor is different then other camera sensors.It does not have such thick glass and air gap between IR filter and pixel assy and corner pixels are set under angle so the light rays do not get bent due to defraction. Most of the vintage lenses do have poor performance on digital sensor since they are made for film which is thinner. There are some correction filters available but they cost more then a vintage lens itself.
On the one hand I like and admire your interest in legacy glass, on the other the bokeh angle is wearing thin now. All the emphasis on blur is a new trend and frankly it's been over hyped.
I would like to see you do a review of the Auto Rikenon 55mm f1.4 radioactive version. I know it is tough over there now. You look very cold. I thought I would send you a few dollars to help with the heating. I like this video and the other Olympus videos too.
love the poetic descriptions. 55 is one of my favorites, will never sell for sure.
Every time I watch one of your videos I want to stop and run outside and shoot;
You’re bringing so much inspiration.
Thank You!
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
I just got my own 55mm f1.2. I am an artistic photography before anything else. And this lens blew the competition away. I put it on a helicoid on my mirrorless and was able to get even closer on a few shots. The morning sunrise provided all of the light I needed. This lens, after a single day, is now my favorite in this focal ranges. Amazing.
Your videos are always a source of pleasure and ataraxia, pure enjoyment. You are most welcome.
I love the way you describe photography and the beautiful words you select for every single idea. Well done, mate. You are one of a kind!!!
Hands down the most captivating, informative, thorough and definitely the most compelling comparison of any photography related kit I’ve ever experienced.
Wow, thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
I love my 55mm f1.2 and have been using it for years, first for film and then digital. It's the most magical lens I have ever used.
Indeed it is - quite stunning!
It is a pleasure to listen to your comments: brilliant, educative and so poetic. It is altogether in a different league.
Wow! That was a great ride.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for another very interesting well-made video. Especially nice narration!
Brilliant voice over on this one Mr Zen 😄 the analogies were splendid 🤗. Nice lenses and images too 😀.
Glad you enjoyed it
I just bought the 55 lens with little research. it's the most money I've spent on a camera or a lens (i've only had cameras I found or gotten for real cheap... $25 for an OM1 I have been using recently)... and I got a good price for it. with that said. I am so delighted by your video. this truly feels aligned for me. thank you so much!! love your narrative
Outstanding. I'd like to stick around but....I'm now off to eBay!!!
:)
@@zenography7923 Back from ebay: holy guacamole those rowdy lenses are expensive.... I think I will save my money on these and look at some less rambunctious alternatives.
Can't thank you enough for your videos brother. Your sense of style is phenomenal. I managed to snag a few of the other vintage lenses you've made videos about before, and my God what a joy they have been.
I use my FD series for corporate shoots, but some of the Boca beasts and blurry boys have paid for themselves five times over in narrative work.
You sir, are a gem.
Many thanks, glad you're enjoying the videos!
i am looking around for another Olympus f1.2 as mine has something weird growing on the inside.
I am unclear on how to remove and clean the rear lens block.
I thought I was done with fast legacy 50’s then I see your at it again and making me lust after what I don’t have....Man I love your style and imagination. Your a pleasure to listen to. Thank you for what you’re doing
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Love the reference of these two bad-boys as musicians. Excellent video as usual sir!
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent clip. A pleasure to listen to all the way.
Thank you, this is the best info on these lenses anywhere, your passionate poetry was very enjoyable. Imagewise I responded strongly to the 50/1.2, not the 55, and ordered one as they get rarer and rarer.
Here it is. The Rock band metaphors.
It is important to mention that a busy background is partly a function of the background itself. Then there is the distance between the subject and the camera, and the background. You have a massive amount of control over these things. My Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 wide open is dead-nuts-on sharp for a few millimeters in there. The trick it finding those few millimeters. Use a high sensor speed and a fast shutter speed because those few millimeters are a fleeting event.
Jim
What a review! Wow the lyrics of this review cannot be found anywhere else. Well done!
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Laughed so much at this video, thank you!
Wow !...that bokeh at full bore of that Zuiko 55mm f 1.2 lens is fantastic beyond compare, very 3 D too and yes, very magical .. It is the one to get.
I think it's the one I'd choose. I think...
@@zenography7923 That 55mm Zuiko lens is well worth acquiring...I really loved the images it produces.
I'm going to need a whole day of watching your videos. It's March 2023 now and I've only just come across this one. I've been a subscriber for some time, but clearly not long enough. Great review. I have the Nikon 55mm F1.2 on an F2AS (which I'm sure has similar qualities) but haven't used it yet due to health issues. Now I'm even more keen to try out the 'madness' of F1.2 . . . . ;)
I now have my second Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 and it is NOT radioactive. The first one is!
Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 1974 SN 117492 Radioactive 3389 CPM
Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm f1.2 1974 SN 135479 NOT or (lightly, maybe Lanthanum?) Radioactive
When was the change over out of radioactive lenses for Olympus on this lens?
In the 1970s, many optical manufacturers changed the ingredients to "lanthanum''
because the `` browning phenomenon '' that occurs in optical glass materials due to
chemical reactions over time, causing them to turn yellow, (When using Thorium).
I would like to know where in the serial numbers did this happen?
let me tell you that you make videos that give so much inspiration, the way that you compare lenses with musicians was so excellent, and how you discribe them like your talking to them.
Thanks Hector, that's good to hear! Glad you're enjoying the videos!
I just asked if you had done a video these after watching your 100mm f/2 video and seeing these two at the end. Of course, ... you have!! These are really very enjoyable videos. I love old Olympus lenses.
Thank you ☺
Your storytelling is exquisitely mad, but your images, the macro colour images, are absolutely delicious.
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
how did i miss this vid, genius. didn;t even know they existed, i purchased the zuiko 1.4 50mm after watching you speak about it and its my fave lens to date. these look even more awesome.
They're both fantastic - in quite different ways. Hope you're enjoying the 1.4!
When you give the thumbs only one min after the beginning of the episode, you remember why you like this channel...
Many thanks, glad you're enjoying the channel!
Excellent video, it is a treat.
Thanks!
Wonderful video and great narration. First time I see someone sees the lenses as students in a classroom and what a great way to explain the non perfect but peculiar behaviour of a lens wide open
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this review! Done with heart and artistic expertise! If I miss something, it is a couple of portraits, which many of us would buy such lens for.. In all other ways the review is informative and nicely done! Thanks!
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Wonderful use of metaphor to convey the spirit of these lenses. I'll have to wait on acquiring one for a bit... I've already overspent my budget on half a dozen vintage lenses over the past three months: Zuiko 24mm f/2.8, Zuiko 28mm f/3.5, Takumar 35mm f/2, Takumar 55mm f/1.8, Takumar 135mm f/3.5... and awaiting delivery of my most recent purchase, Zeiss Sonnar 180mm f/2.8. Fun, with beautiful results on my Canon EOS 6D.
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it. You have some very nice lenses there too!
Your channel is a gem - deserves so many more subscribers and I'm sure they'll come with time. Fab!
Thank you so much, that's very kind! Glad you're enjoying the channel!
I love your passion!
Gracias,
Javier
Many thanks!
Very nice indeed! And what about the Minolta 55 1.2? Could you compare with these?
Yes - if I had one!
Before we all went digital I bought into the Olympus range, because they were so compact and fitted the size of my hands. I have a couple of OM10s with manual adaptors which I inherited from Pops, an OM30, an OM2SP and an OM4Ti with a collection of some stunningly beautiful Zuiko lenses. I have a 50mm f1.4 but now I feel I need to get a 55mm f1.2. I changed to Canon when things went digital in the 00s and I bought an entry level 400D. I'm looking to upgrade and while I have some nice Canon / Sigma /Tamron adaptall lenses that may with adaptors fit an M50, I would like to vlog about my synths. But, I'm equally keen on traditional stills as vlogging. I'm not prepared to junk my Olympus range but I'm not sure Olympus offer a route into vlogging in their digital range with their old manual focus gear? I feel that I'm going to end up with Canon bodies and OM lenses., unless you can advise.
I must point out that while you mention the Gallagher brothers they are always rumped here by Blur. Just a great video Zenography as always.
Olympus cameras aren't great for vlogging as they don't, as far as I know, have fully articulating screens. In any case, their cameras of recent years haven't focused on video as much as stills; I tried an ep-5 a while back and its video wasn't great at all. There are lots of options out there, from action cameras permanently mounted on gimbals to the many mirrorless choices. However, for this kind of work I've found the Panasonic GH series to be some of the best - all from the GH2 onwards shoot very nice video, they're widely used by vloggers and youtubers and they're often used by professionals too. I make all my videos with a GH2 - it's getting a bit long in the tooth now but still does what I need it to do, although as time passes I'll probably get a later GH model, with IBIS. Hope that helps!
@@zenography7923 thank you for your advice it is very much appreciated. I'd been looking at Sonys and Canons but recently I've seen very good reviews of Panasonic gear which back up what you say. I shall be researching the GHs and thank you again for taking the time to reply. Keep up the great work Z.
you are talking about lenses aren't you? Best lens talk ever.
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Wonderful review. So glad to hear your thoughts on these lenses. I love the 50mm 1.2 and have been waiting anxiously to see what you thought of it. I like the 50mm so much that I really haven't yet had the desire to use the 1.4. But, now you have me wanting to try the 55mm 1.2!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! The 55 is quite something, quite badly behaved but somehow wonderful because of it!
Nice video... Love the 55mm.....
Me too!
Hello dear Master Zenographer! As you have put me on the path of buying far too many vintage lenses since I found your cool channel a couple of months ago, I hope that you can help me with your judgement on the OM zuiko 24mm 2.0?
I like the reference to Gordon Gecko in "Wall Street", it really works.
Sharpness is very over rated, for reproduction, some landscape; sure but you can often never see the difference between many lenses unless you do 2 to 4 times enlargement and really pixel peep.
Once I thought absolute MTF is what makes that 3D pop, but not even that is true.
I just shake my head when I hear pro photographers on TH-cam describe they take their 40-50 mpixel camera, pair it with a £2000+ lens and do portraits!? Then they say they spend between one to two hours in post (!) to remove blemishes and soften the skin!
I'd give them a good old Sonnar type design normal to short tele lens in the f/1.2 to f/2 region, tell them to shoot wide open; job done!
I've tried so many lenses of different brands and beside a few lemons you can take decent sharp photos if you want, but the bokeh; there is the difference between a big brand and many third party manufacturers.
There is no optical formula for calculating bokeh as there is for apochromatic convergence or coma. It is all about experience.
Absolutely, I think optical imperfections can lead to some really interesting images, besides, the notion of perfection is a slippery one - who decides what's perfect anyway?
What lenses can you advice to get great quality vintage pictures with great color/skin rendering, best 3d popping and warm flares.I can go 1000$ and less (video shooting). Right now got Voigtlander 28 2.8 color skopalex, thinking about Voigtlander Ultron 50 1.8, Pancolar 80 1.8. But dream is set of lenses that will match in post (colors, plastics).
Im actually on mft ;) Speedboosted! Thank you.
My shutter blades seem to take longer than my other cameras to return back. Is this normal for this camera or is the lens bad?
Nice video. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you. You gave me the right decision which to go for. I have OM-3Ti and many lenses in the F/2.0 line up and the 50/1.4. I also have many Nikon F bodies, and a real wacky 55/1.2 pre-ai, and Metabones Speedboost for Nikkor and OM to m43. Then I got an offer on a Nikkor 50mm F/1.2 AIS. I didn't like how it performed in reviews, and then I had to see yours reviews. Since I already have the solid performer in the F/1.4, I have to go for the most wacky of them, and it's the 55/1.2. I like your lens reviews.
Glad you're enjoying the videos, and that they were able to help your choice! You have some lovely lenses there, and a lovely camera too!
@@zenography7923 Yeah, but I have much more, MF and in LF, Carbon Infinity 4x5"
galerie-photo.com/carbon-infinity.html
Oh my gosh, that's quite a camera!
@@zenography7923 As far as I know, there is to of them in Norway. Mine is the only one sold here, and I'm the second owner. So it's pretty rare, they say something between 80 and 120 where made. It's made of carbon and titanium and made to last to the next iceage. That's the camera many has heard of, but few has seen one. There is one for sale now, but I got mine for much better price including everything for LF photo. I think the price back then was in todays money about $20K. It's made to be the best field and studio camera. It can do it all, but a little bit heavy to be the best field camera.
Thanks!
And thank you!
Very nice video, thanks! Just of curiosity, where are you from?
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it! I'm from the north of england, around manchester way.
@@zenography7923 nice accent!
Once again, an extremely interesting and well done video. I'll trying out a 55mm f1.2 Vivitar Lens on a classic Pentax SP 1000 SLR. We'll see how it compares to the shots you shared in the video. Keep up the GREAT work!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video! That Vivitar 1.2 sounds nice!
Отличный обзор! Жаль нет субтитров на русском. У нас нет ни одного обзора этих великолепных объективов. Посмотрел ваше видео и иду покупать 55 мм!
What camera did you use? Or more telling, what crop factor? In a previous video (comments) you said you would start telling us. A simple _"these were all taken with a 2:1 crop factor Olympus X camera"_ at the start of the video would suffise nicely. It would help those looking to buy greatly to know what to expect. Good video other than not knowing the crop.
My apologies - as usual (unless otherwise stated) all images were shot on the Sony A7 mark 1.
Hi Zenography, nice and wonderful review, thank you! I have the 1.4 version. Wonderful lens! Is there much difference to both of them when stopped down to 2.0? Cheers, Ralf
They both sharpen up a bit at f2, the 50 more than the 55, and the 55's corners will be a little darker.
I love your videos, they're a dream to watch and listen. BBC should scout you for narration...
I have the chance to purchase a 55mm f1.2 at the moment for a decent price including an adaptor for my fuji X digital camera and just can't decide.
Glad you're enjoying the videos, and thanks for your kind remarks! I'd say if you can afford it, buy the 1.2! It's a load of fun, and if you don't like it, you can always sell it on...
Well, it's you to blame. I'm finally got one of these for about £ 300. Recently serviced and all good so fare.
Enjoy!
Hi hope yr well. I just came across this 55 mm. 1.2. I was tempted to buy its the second one in 50 years but I have just bought the Takumar 55mm f2 n I like the artist character it give what’s your view on it should I buy it. The thing is it gets very tempting after a while , initially I wanted to get the 56mm fujifilm which is auto n for weddings ect the Olympus will be a bit slow although with focus peaking donuts a tough choice what would you do buy it or pass ?
I think the 55 1.2 is best considered as an art lens - it's very, very soft at 1.2 and doesn't sharpen up until f2.8 - but at that point it becomes a stellar lens, quite astonishing! It's not a lens to shoot wide open though, unless you want the very soft look! I'd stick with the Tak 55 f2 - a very nice lens indeed, much nicer than many other vintage lenses I can think of!
@@zenography7923 thanks and happy new year I am
Just after a 35mm to to make it into a52mm. For my Fuji I told to look at the T artisan 35mm what’s yr recommendations
How about the Canon FD 55mm f1.2 and 50mm f1.2 versions?
Would love to test them - if only I had them!
how is the magic or which one would be better for portraits?
Both work nicely for portraits. The 55 will render more softly wide open, a useful trait in a portrait lens, but not always suited to every shot. The 50 is quite a bit sharper - which is better depends on the look you want to achieve.
@@zenography7923 thank you
amazing video, i am buying nikons 55mm 1.2 after this.
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Have fun with that 1.2!
Nice, should be cheap addition….
*looks at ebay*
I think I will leave it for a bit. :)
Any good with an adapter on MFT?
I haven't used it on MFT; it would work but you'd lose some of its wild nature (MFT sensor 'looks' through the central portion of the lens).
Nice video as usual but would say only one thing.Buy these lenses if you about to shoot film,since non of the vintage lenses are made to work with modern digital sensor.The wider in mm you go and in aperture the more worst performance will be in order to get decent performance.Why film? Because lens is optimized for thin peace of film and not to the digital sensor cover glass refractive index.Think if you don't care about smeared corners and mid frame section (portrets) go ahead and buy if you can get cheap.I would not recommend using expensive Leica glass on Canon,Sony,Nikon, Fujifilm or m4/3 since the glass and Leica camera is matched to each other to get quality image.
I've heard there can be problems with very wide vintage (or film) lenses on full frame digital sensors - I've yet to encounter it myself though!
@@zenography7923 There is always issue with rangefinder lenses especially Leica, wider you go more issues you have with corners.This is also the reason why Leica digital sensor is different then other camera sensors.It does not have such thick glass and air gap between IR filter and pixel assy and corner pixels are set under angle so the light rays do not get bent due to defraction. Most of the vintage lenses do have poor performance on digital sensor since they are made for film which is thinner. There are some correction filters available but they cost more then a vintage lens itself.
On the one hand I like and admire your interest in legacy glass, on the other the bokeh angle is wearing thin now. All the emphasis on blur is a new trend and frankly it's been over hyped.
It's difficult to ignore blur on an f1.2 lens...
Expensive on ebay
Put more tobacco with it...
Thanks!
I would like to see you do a review of the Auto Rikenon 55mm f1.4 radioactive version.
I know it is tough over there now. You look very cold. I thought I would send you a few dollars to help with the heating.
I like this video and the other Olympus videos too.
Thanks, really appreciated!